The body of a South Korean solider killed in a terrorist attack in Afghanistan earlier this week arrived in South Korea on Friday.

Army Sgt. Yoon Jang-ho was killed on Tuesday in a suicide bombing at the main gate of a U.S. base in Bagram, about 60 kilometers north of the capital of Kabul.

The 27-year-old, the first South Korean solider to be killed abroad since the country fought on the U.S. side during the Vietnam War decades ago, has been posthumously promoted to staff sergeant.

Tuesday's attack is believed to have targeted U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, who was visiting the area, according to the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). Reports stated that the Taliban has taken responsibility for the bombing.

Yoon's parents flew to Kuwait and received the body that was airlifted by the U.S. military from Afghanistan on Thursday.

The body arrived at a military airport in Seongnam, a city just south of Seoul, at 7:15 a.m. aboard a chartered flight amid falling rain. The plane also carried Yoon's parents and some 300 South Korean soldiers returning home after completing a six-month mission in Iraq.

Yoon's body was greeted solemnly by Army Chief of Staff Park Heung-ryul and some 100 soldiers from the military unit to which Yoon belonged before his departure to Afghanistan. The body was then moved to a nearby military hospital, where it will stay for a few days.

Yoon's funeral is likely to be organized by the Army, with a burial to follow at the National Cemetery in Daejeon, 164 kilometers south of Seoul.

The Defense Ministry said it will consult with Yoon's family to finalize the date and other details of the funeral.

As part of the U.S.-led coalition, about 60 medics of the Dongui Medical Unit and 150 engineers of the Dasan Engineering Unit have been operating in Afghanistan since 2002 to help with reconstruction in the war-torn country.

Seoul, March 2 (Yonhap News)